About This Site

The Naval Postgraduate School, the office of the Assistant
Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration
(OASD-NII) and
several industry leading vendors answered the call for disaster relief communications a few
days after Hurricane Katrina devastated the US Gulf Coast. This team
combined real world prior experience in disaster response communications
activities with the most current technologies to wirelessly enable Bay
St Louis and Waveland Mississippi—providing the ONLY means of voice
and data communications in the region while awaiting additional
government support.

Explore this site to learn more about HFNs and the Katrina story.

Introduction Video

Click on the link here to hear a welcome and introduction to this site by Dr. Linton Wells, former US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Networks and Information Integration), who currently serves as the National Defense University Transformation Chair and Director of the Star-Tides Program.

Who This Site Is For

While this site was written by U.S. Government personnel, the documented lessons learned contained within are applicable to a broader audience. Whether you are a government or non-governmental organization we provide this information to help support all humanitarian aid/disaster relief efforts. Please email us with your comments or questions.